Syllabus, valid from 2023-08-28
Syllabus, valid from 2023-08-28
Title
Critical Humanities - Ideas on the Move
Swedish title
Kritisk Humaniora - Idéer i rörelse
Course code
KK680A
Credits
15 credits
Grading scale
UA / Excellent (A), Very Good (B), Good (C), Satisfactory (D), Pass (E) or Fail (U)
Language of instruction
English
Decision-making body
Faculty of Culture and Society
Syllabus approval date
2023-01-11
Syllabus valid from
2023-08-28
Level
Advanced level
Entry requirements
General entry requirements + English 6
Bachelor's degree (180 credits) or equivalent in social sciences, humanities or arts.
General eligibility + the equivalent of Swedish higher secondary school English 6.
Main field
Cultural Studies
Progression level
A1N
Progression level in relation to degree requirements
The course is included in the main field of Cultural Studies and can be included in the degree requirements for a Master's degree in Cultural Studies.
Course objectives
The aim of this course is to enable students to develop knowledge and understanding of key concepts and themes in cultural studies.
Course contents
This is the foundational course for the overall programme, which introduces students to key concepts and debates in critical and cultural studies, whilst exploring how they have developed over history and are transforming under the pressure of modern-day challenges. The basic premise is to critically examine the varying ways in which culture produces knowledge, how culture is called upon to negotiate power relations, and also the ways in which culture has, and continues to be, contested. In this way the course narrates culture as a “battleground” with different actors and institutional stakeholders, and uneven modes of access and representation. Making theory relevant to assess current areas of societal contestation is an important driver for this course, and it aims to help students tackle such discourses by understanding their historical genealogies.
Learning outcomes
On completion of the course the student will be able to:
- demonstrate understanding of key concepts and themes in cultural studies
- critically identify and review different theoretical perspectives
- apply different theoretical perspectives and concepts to different cultural forms and productions
- relate to, contextualise, and discuss theories in reading seminars with peers and teaching staff
- develop written argumentation that responds to key theoretical concepts and their historical background, explored during the course
Learning activities
This course will be comprised of lecturer-led seminars, student workshops with teachers, and student reading groups.
Assessment
All learning outcomes (1-5) are examined in the 3 position papers.
Re-examinations will be given in accordance with Students’ Rights and Obligations, but adjustments to the assignment can be made if the circumstances for the original examination cannot be replicated.
Course literature
- Bennet, Tony, Lawrence Grossberg, Meaghan Morris (eds). New Keywords: A Revised Vocabulary of Culture and Society. Malden, Mass. Blackwell Pub. 2005
- Clark, Timothy. Ecocriticism on the Edge: the Anthropocene as a Threshold Concept. London: Bloomsbury, 2015
- Mignolo, Walter, and Catherine E. Walsh. On Decoloniality: Concepts, Analytics, Praxis. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2018.
- Szeman, Imre, and Timothy Kaposy (eds). Cultural Theory: An Anthology. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.
- Yusoff, Kathryn. A Billion Black Anthropocenes or None. Minneapolis, MN : University of Minnesota Press, 2018.
Supplementary articles, literature and other media will be provided.
Course evaluation
The University provides all students who are participating in, or have completed, a course to express their experiences and views on the course through a course evaluation which is organized at the end of the course. The university will collate the course evaluations and provide information about their results and any actions prompted by them. The results shall be made available to the students. (HF 1:14).
Interim rules
When a course is no longer given, or the contents have been radically changed, the student has the right to re-take the examination, which will be given twice during a one year period, according to the syllabus which was valid at the time of registration.
Additional information
The syllabus is a translation of a Swedish source text.